Overcoming the Challenges for Small Tech Hubs - A Co-Creation Event - 18 July 2013

The Africa Hubs Web Gathering on the 18th July 2013 at 12noon GMT looked at the challenges that affect smaller hubs across Africa and for solutions to overcome them.

Tayo Akinyemi from Afrilabs hosted and we had a virtual co-creation session where participants worked on a "case" from another hub to share ideas about their survival strategies.

This Web Gathering was a conversation between participants focussed on finding solutions, presentations outlined the case, and the challenge was then thrown to the floor for discussion which included input into how hubs have approached a similar challenge, the outcome of this approach, and what else they will be doing in the future. Successful hubs iLab Liberia,IceAddis and Habaka (Madagascar) brought their case studies to kick start the co-creation process.

Examples of challenges faced by new and small tech hubs across Africa:
How do you convince people to invest in a tech hub when internet penetration in your country is negligible?
How do you build an active community around tech when expertise/exposure to the area is scarce?
What concrete steps can you take to "cross the chasm" between a small, volunteer run initiative to full-fledged tech hub?
How do you educate people about your context (cost of internet connection, rent, post-conflict society, etc.) so that they form realistic expectations about you and your work?
How do you identify the needs in your specific community and address them and/or leverage the talent/skills in your community through your hub (rather than copying someone else's approach)?
How do you open up a dialogue with the government about supporting tech development?